Chapter 15 – Victoria
fifteen
Victoria
Sleep tears away from me as I blink open my eyes, seeing the soft glow from outside coming into the room at the side of the curtains.
I snuggle deeper into the bed and wrap the covers around me more as I close my eyes until the urge to fall back asleep passes.
I open them back up and look across the room, finding the bed empty.
I reach out, feeling the bed cold. I get up on my elbow.
“Zane,” I call his name and listen for any noise, but the silence is almost too loud.
I toss the covers off me and get up, snatching up the black silk robe before I go out into the kitchen and find it empty.
“Wow.” I stand in the middle of the living room that opens up to the entire house, finding it empty too.
“This is why you shouldn’t have opened the fucking door last night.
” I turn back and head toward the bedroom, the sheets in disarray show you two people definitely slept in the bed, though his side looks like he snuck out of bed like a snake.
“Asshole,” I grumble and shake my head, pushing down the way my stomach sinks.
I walk to the bathroom, turning on the faucet and going to the bathroom before coming back out and washing my face.
I twist my hair in the back and pin it up with a clip before I walk into the kitchen, heading straight for the coffee machine and stopping in my tracks when I see the white note right next to the machine.
I take a step toward it like there is a land mine ready to explode.
Once I get to the counter, I pick up the note and try not to smile down at it.
Victoria-
Had a meeting early this morning. Sorry to sneak out.
I cleaned up the ice cream, but I didn’t want to wake you.
You might want to clean it again.
Z
I turn now and look out the big glass window at the blue sky with the sun shining down.
I shake my head, a small smile now playing on my lips, and place the paper back down on the counter.
I go over and make my coffee when the phone rings, and I rush to my bedroom to get it, seeing it’s my father FaceTiming me.
“Good morning,” I say once his face comes onto the screen.
“Good afternoon,” he replies and I look back over my shoulder at the clock on the stove and see it’s almost fucking noon. “Did you just get up?”
“I actually did,” I admit, walking to the fridge to grab the milk. Going over to the milk frothing machine, I pour some in before pressing the button. “I guess I was more tired than I thought I was.”
“You are pushing yourself too much at work.” My father’s voice is filled with worry.
“Every single time I talk to you, you are at your desk.” His eyebrows pinch together.
“Who are you talking to, Manning?” I hear my mother come into the room and then her face is next to his and she smiles at me.
“Hey, sweetheart.” My parents met unconventionally one night when my mother went to her best friend’s bachelorette party and my father was there.
They locked eyes and had a one-night thing.
There was just a little problem, besides my mother sneaking out on him and not telling him her name, my dad was in a loveless marriage and had been trying to divorce his wife for years.
She refused to give him a divorce and used Jaxon as a pawn against him.
“Hey, Mom,” I say, pouring the milk in my cup and heading out to the balcony to have my coffee.
“You look tired, honey,” she observes, and I laugh.
“Is that your way of saying, ‘honey, you look like shit’?” I sit down on the outside couch, curling my feet under me, taking a sip of my coffee.
“No.” She laughs.
“You could never look like shit,” my father interjects and then looks at my mother. “You look exactly like your mother, and she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.” She looks at him.
“Should I hang up now so you guys can make out, or do you think you can relax whatever it is you are telling each other via your eyeballs?” They laugh and he leans in and kisses her and then moves his head to her ear and whispers something to her.
“My own eyeballs are going to need bleaching.” I point to my eyes, which makes them laugh even more.
He puts his arm around her and pulls her to him, kissing her head.
“Did you guys call me to do this?” I ask them.
“I called to check up on you,” my father replies. “We’re going to be coming down to visit soon.”
“Shocking,” I reply, taking a sip of my coffee as I listen to the water crash onto the shore, “since you were here, what was it, two weeks ago.”
“Our grandchild is there,” my mother snaps and I roll my eyes. Even though Jaxon isn’t her biological child, she calls him her son and treats him like it too. Their bond is sometimes stronger than my bond with her.
“And your children,” I mention of Jaxon and me. “Are you bringing my sister with you?” I ask them and they shrug. “Last time you guys came here without her, you kept getting notifications from the Ring cam that showed she had a rager.”
“It was not a rager,” my father defends her, “it was a quaint get-together.”
I snort, laughing at him. “There were fifty people, and some of them were boys,” I whisper out the last word and he glares at me.
“Stop goading your father.” My mother looks at him as he bites down and his jaw gets tight. “She’s a good kid.”
“I was a good kid.” I point to myself and they both snort and my father even pffts.
“You were a spoiled brat,” he retorts, and my mouth opens.
“You literally put a padlock on your door when you moved out of here to go live in LA and still haven’t given us the code for it.
” I did, in fact, have the best bedroom anyone could have asked for.
I even had a sitting room, and I will be holding onto it until they pry it from my cold dead hands, and even then I would probably come back and haunt whoever was in that room.
“That is my private, personal space and I don’t want anyone going in there,” I defend myself. “It’s my room. What are you going to do with it?”
“I’ve always wanted a glam room,” my mother says and now I’m the one pffting out. “I could start to put on makeup and do the whole glam thing.” She glares at me. “Anyway, we’re coming down and we are going to have Sunday dinner, so don’t make any plans.”
“I literally work and then come home,” I tell them.
“I have the saddest social life of all time. My best friend is a one-year-old kid that still pees his pants.” I laugh and take another sip of my coffee.
“Now thanks for making me depressed on a Sunday. I’m going to let you go and then go take a workout class.
” I blow kisses to the phone and then hang up on them.
I look out into the horizon at the calmness of the water far beyond, and then marvel at how it rolls up and hits the shore.
I get up and stretch, noting how certain parts of me are aching this morning. My legs are one of them, my vagina is another one. I turn to walk inside when I get a text from Jaxon.
Jaxon:
Lunch.
I quickly type out a reply.
Me:
Are you asking me or telling me?
I press send before putting my cup in the sink and see he put the spoon in there. I smile to myself as the phone pings with a text. For whatever reason I can’t explain, I think it’s from him. My heart speeds up and I get suddenly nervous, but then I see Jaxon has sent me a video.
I press play, leaning back on the counter as Jagger’s face comes into view. “Tell TT to get her lazy ass here for lunch.”
“Jaxon.” I hear Ariella scold him from a distance.
“TT,” Jagger says on the phone, and I smile big.
“He’s not going to say the word ass, Ari!” Jaxon shouts back at her as Jagger mumbles gibberish at the phone. As the video stops playing, the phone rings, showing me a FaceTime.
“I sure am popular today,” I say when I answer the phone and see Jagger’s face.
“We are going to eat in twenty-five minutes,” Jaxon states from behind Jagger, who holds the phone in his hand. I’m suddenly looking at the floor and then the ceiling as he starts walking with the phone in his hand.
“Come back here,” he calls to Jagger. “Twenty-five minutes or we eat without you.”
“I’ll be there,” I tell them as the phone falls to the floor and all I see is black because Jagger sits on said phone.
I hang up, walking to my bedroom, taking in the messy bed, the picture of it so unlike when I sleep in it alone.
One side is normally never touched, but now both sides are rumpled.
I walk over to make the bed, smelling Zane on the pillow I pick up to toss to the end of the bed as I smooth the sheets back.
I clean up the three condom wrappers off the side table and toss them in the trash before putting the pillows back in place.
I walk toward my closet, taking out a pair of black leggings with a matching sports bra before going into the bathroom and fixing my hair.
I unclip my hair, bend over, and hold it upside down, putting my hands through it before flipping it over to one side.
I put on some mascara and then I see the red mark he left on my shoulder.
My fingers come up to touch it and I bring the memory up to the forefront of my thoughts.
It was when I was riding him and he pulled me close.
It makes me close my eyes and sigh deeply before I head over and grab a sweater.
I get there in time for lunch and then we take a walk to the park, where I spend the rest of the afternoon chasing Jagger and having him chase me. I’m sliding into bed when I pick up the phone and text him.
Me:
Found your note this morning. Thanks for cleaning up the ice cream.
I press send and I’m expecting him to text me back, but instead the phone rings, and I see it’s him. “Hello,” I answer, putting the phone to my ear.
“Hey,” he says, and I sink down into the bed.
“Who is this?” I ask and roll my lips to not laugh out loud.
“The Big Bad Wolf,” he replies, and I can’t help but laugh out loud.
“Okay, you win that round.”
“Finally. Sorry for sneaking out on you,” he says softly. “I got an email about a meeting.”
“On a Sunday?” I ask him.
“Yeah.” He sounds stressed. “Management meeting.”
“That sounds like all kinds of fun.” I make a joke out of it and he chuckles.
“I am sorry for leaving that way.”
“Thank you for cleaning up the mess in the kitchen.”
“It was the least I could do since I made half the mess.”
“Half the mess?” I balk. “You made the whole mess. What are you doing?”
“Packing,” he replies. “We go on a five-day road trip.”
“I know. I work with Lexi and Kylie. They keep a calendar at the office, and I also had lunch with Jaxon today, who was dreading it.”
“Yeah, he’s not the only one dreading it,” he mumbles, taking a deep inhale. “I’ll call you when I get back.”
“So needy.” I make a joke of it and when he laughs it makes me feel a bit better. “Have a good trip,” I tell him and I hang up.
I put the phone on my bedside table, trying not to overthink things. I don’t have a good night’s sleep and when I’m walking into the office the next day, my ass is dragging.
I step into the elevator, pressing the button for the floor the office is on.
Stepping out and walking to the left, there are two offices on each floor.
We have the one on the left, but the management company has said the person in the other office is not renewing his lease and has asked us if we want to take it over.
Since I don’t have an office and the girls feel bad, we are now taking over that office, but it won’t be ready for another two months.
I open the brown door and step into the waiting area. The side has a long green couch with two different shades of pink pillows and two single green chairs facing the sofa. In the middle of the wall over the couch are two words.
The Choice. The ‘The’ is in gold and the Choice is in green. Above the words are what look like green leaves with pink flowers covering the top half of the wall, like you stepped into a garden.
“Good morning,” I mumble and walk over to my desk, right next to the door.
Kylie and Kirby started the foundation called Make The Choice, that helps women and children leave toxic and abusive families.
It was just Kylie until Lexi came in, and the two of them have already helped different organizations with shelter and clothing for women who have taken the step to make a change in their lives.
“I know that mumble,” Lexi says, coming out of her office, leaning against her door frame as I pull out the chair to my desk and put my purse on top of the desk. “Someone had a wild weekend.”
“Oh please, tell me it was not with Elliott,” Kylie joins in, making her way out of her office and heading straight to the couch area. “He was… something.”
“It was not with Elliott,” I admit and they both gasp.
“I was just shitting you, I thought for sure it was with him.”
“It was not,” I assure them. “It was with this guy I sort of met.”
“You sort of met a guy while you were on a date with another one?” Lexi asks, her eyes are about to come out of her sockets.
“No.” I shake my head. “I met him before; we were talking and then—”
“You did more talking, but with your vagina.” Kylie laughs.
“It was also with my mouth.” I point to her. “But anyway…”
“Avoidance,” Lexi notes. “I did that when I was falling for Kirby.”
“Okay, no one is falling for anyone. It’s just sex,” I clarify and avoid looking at them. “Anyway, are we having our Monday morning meeting?”
“Oh fuck,” Lexi swears, rushing back to her office and coming out with the folder in her hand. “I’m ready.”
I laugh at them as I open my laptop, ready to take notes. “What are you working on?” Lexi asks me.
“So, I was thinking.” I lean back in my chair.
“The community garden you guys did was amazing.” They look at me.
“But what if we did the same thing but with the church after-school program.” Lexi’s eyes light up.
“They have a playground area that has seen better days,” I tell them.
“The play structure is half broken. There are no benches.”
“I love that idea,” Kylie says. “I think if we start doing social media”—she points to me—“it’ll make it open to more people who need help but didn’t know they could go there.”
“Exactly,” I agree.
“Why don’t we go and visit it this afternoon and take some pictures? Then we can see what we can do,” Kylie suggests and I smile.
“Road trip.” I clap my hands. “The dream team is taking it on the road.” They shake their head at me as I open up our social media page and get to work.